In to the top twenty in my ratings. To be honest there is a very thin line between them and a great time is pretty much assured in all of these fine cities.
20 Bucharest
Bucharest scores great points for the huge municipal building (Palace of the Parliament), the worlds second biggest public building after the Pentagon. Ceausescu’s folly is amazing to visit inside and out.
Apart from that there are some lovely churches and neo classical buildings, pleasant parks and fun bar filled pedestrian only zones.
19 Bratislava
This is possibly a harsh ranking. The Slovak capital situated on the Danube is very pleasing on the eye generally with a wonderful old town, impressive castle and an eclectic collection of statues dotted about the place.
I felt I had seen everything I wanted to see in just a few hours. Size isn’t everything of course, but there is a limit to retracing steps. I know a lot of people love the place, I could take it or leave it.
18 Helsinki
A very nice city with distinctive Russian architecture, a buzzing student scene and a waterfront setting. I only went once in ’92 so need a second visit to do the place justice and no doubt boost its ranking.
17 Dublin
Dublin is a very nice looking city divided by the Liffey. Trinity College is a huge highlight for me, the Guinness brewery visit a must and the literary walking tour visiting pubs frequented by Joyce, Wilde & Beahan great fun.
As pleasant as the city is, it doesn’t rate as highly for me as it seems to do for others.
The Irish people are also most welcoming hosts and the pubs pretty special despite exporting a million (largely poor) imitations.
16 Kiev
I had a brilliant time in Ukraine’s capital. The onion domed churches are fantastic, visiting the vast monastery of the caves complex (Pechersk Lavra) is a wonderful few hours very well spent, the Chernobyl Museum fascinating & harrowing and the River Dnieper provides a great backdrop.
The opera house is also one of the best and damned cheap too.
Am ambitious project. i will wait until the end before I say if I agree with you!
I’d definitely agree with you on Bucharest… I found it a fascinating and vibrant city
Why visiting only capitals? Why not the real country outside capitals? For example, Helsinki is on the southern coastline, but there is life outside it! We have huge Lakeland area, in the north, our Lapland waits for tourists to find it, and many has found. My country Finland offers “hidden” gems, not found elsewhere, for those are interested in them.
Happy and safe travels!
I have been to Kimi, Turku and travelled down Finland by train so saw lots of your beautiful country through the window. You are right though, in many countries it is the capital only that gets visited. So much to do and see everywhere sometimes you have to miss a lot of gems. Wilbur.